Gotham Wonder
by egomaniacexile
Summary: Renee Wayne and Axel Cooper are Hollywoods most unlikely sweethearts, especially when you consider her being the doppelganger of a girl he tried to kill as well as his psychotherapist. Collection of one-shots.
1. what did you do this time?

The Arkham Asylum was cold, freezing even if you had never experienced such a change in temperature. According to some scientist in some lab who treated some patients, this was one of many factors that helped the criminally insane during therapy sessions.

Science has also proven that cold is what helps steel to crack, break, distort even.

Fun fact: the Arkham Asylum is constructed out of the finest steel in the world.

•

Sounds of pattering feet, alarms, and irritated sighs was the combination of noises that woke the young Wayne girl from her daily nap-on-the-slab; an irritated groan coming from her mouth as she turned over to face the cracked open door, viewing feet by the dozens pass her by. For a while, that's all she saw, passing feet, lights from the alarms, and worried expressions (when she bothered to look up), until her focus was interrupted by a pair of black dress shoes pulling the door open more. In an instant, the girl stood up, pushing her hair back into its proper positions and pulling on her coat.

"Dr. Wayne, we have a—uhm, slight emergency..."

"Our emergency light is going off."

"Yes well—,"

"Then this is not a slight emergency." she had immediately retorted, annoyed with the lack of urgency the man held compared to everyone else. "Give me a summary—I need coffee..." she muttered the last part under her breath as the two began walking out of the room; the sound of her heels on the floor swift compared to the mans rushed movements.

"Well the tools, you see we don't know if they were handmade or sent in a visitors gift, and we wouldn't have seen it if we hadn't personally gone to check on the inmate next door—or patient I suppose—so when we found him and the hole next to him we just—."

"Woah, woah, woah, woah, back up please." with the pieces still not coming together, Renée had cut him off—verbally and physically as she had stepped into the break room, already preparing herself a mug of fuel as she began to speak. "What tools, what hole, which patient, just what?" The man aside her sighed, almost out of breath as he sat down in a chair whilst resting his arm on its supporting table.

"Your patient, Cooper?" she had nodded at his question while taking a sip from her mug, though while she looked cool and collected on the outside, inside she felt like a chastising mother, wondering 'What did you do this time, Asshole'. With his next statement, however, Renée had almost felt herself spit out her drink. "He escaped."

•

"You're sure he's made it out of the building?"

"Well, no."

"And you're sure it was him who knocked Weston unconscious?"

"That we have on tape, yes."

"So where are the tools?"

"The what?" Renée felt herself groan once more—maybe this was the third time, or fourth, she really wasn't keeping count anymore. After finding out about Axels assumed escape, uncovering the snoring body he left behind, and overall trying to figure out how this all happened in a span of a seemingly normal twenty-four hours, all the brunette wanted to do was give up, go home, and take a bath, yet somehow whenever things involved the army boy she couldn't help but always be involved.

Pathetic.

"The tools, the assumed chisel he used to break through this. The mans strong but even he couldn't break through solid steel with his fists." the blonde intern had looked at her like she was crazy, beginning to sporadically flip through a legal pad in her hands; her voice quaking with every start of an assumed sentence before silencing herself to clear her throat. Annoyed by such being her constant response, Renée picked up the flashlight at her feet, peering down the almost endless hole at her feet.

"Well, we have—... Experts are—... The administrators said—," knowing what she was about to do was stupid, mindless, and again, stupid, the Wayne girl had turned to make sure the blonde wasn't facing her before silently taking off her heels, removing her jacket, and holding her breath as she jumped down into the bottomless pit.

And then everything was black.

•

Nearly two months ago, Renée found herself rigging the cameras in the cell wing Axel had been put in. Why, she had no idea, maybe she was drunk (impossible) or maybe she just didn't want to be alone (most likely), all she knew was that they had about three hours before anyone got any signal (that, however, was done by some forum hacker she hired who had a little too much energy for her taste).

When she had managed to slip in and convince him they were completely off the record, that's when the true conversation began; the talks of home, the talks of childhood dreams, and then somehow they got around to the industrial steel monopoly featuring Andrew Carnegie and JP Morgan.

It was then she made the mistake of telling him of the escaped patient decades ago; of the basement level they sealed off and noted as nothing beneath his very floor to cover up such a mishap.

It was then that she had ever heard his voice perk up in hope.

•

With a rough thud and stars of pain, she had finally found her way to the concrete of the sealed off floor; the sounds of sirens from the above floor completely gone from her ears as all she could hear was... Nothing.

Other than her own breathing, Renée felt as if the entire world was perfectly silent; there were no whispers from people nearby, there were no sounds of movement, no rustling nature, just completely and utterly perfect silence.

For once she was surrounded by nothing but her thoughts, and not even that, as when the silence seemed to seep into her skin she felt herself close her eyes and take a deep breath, for she was alone, and could finally finish her nap.

"Nice, isn't it?" the voice shattered the glass that was such a perfect moment, causing Renée to open one eye and look up into the eyes of another, bringing her face to face with Axel Cooper.

"It was, before you broke the enjoyment." she had responded in a monotone voice, holding up a hand and silently thanking him as he used such to pick her up. Once up on her bare feet, however, she shivered, though found herself focusing on her current surroundings; concrete wall here, concrete wall there, all bare concrete walls except for the two inhabitants. "So you did all of this for the quiet life of it all?" she questioned jokingly, though there was no response from the mass of muscles standing beside her, who instead just turned and picked up what looked like a jacket from the ground.

Still in the lovely silence, neither of them said anything much; Axel of course focused on his own conditions while Renée continued to observe, though this time the numbers on the jacket he picked up. Of course shes memorized his file, his attributes, social security and inmate number; all have been racking her brain as she attempted to understand the being that was Axel Cooper. Because of such, it was painfully obvious the jacket had a number that wasn't his, and quickly she made the correct assumption of it being the man who was uncovered unconscious.

"Didn't expect to cause such a commotion, did you?" she had asked him in a low voice, stepping in a circle to cause some sort of friction between her feet and the floor; her pencil skirt a bad choice for the day's journey. She heard a low chuckle in response though didn't react, still warming her feet with her steps before she noticed a hand in front of her face with two pairs of scratchy polyester socks. Polyester or not, she was quick to slide them on her feet.

"I expected a commotion, just not when I was still in the building." he had responded; his eyes watching her as she put the socks on her feet and nodding once they were on, almost as if she were a two-year-old learning to do so for the first time.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Didn't mention the security very much, did I?"

"No, it could've helped me too. I would've been halfway to wherever by now..." She had watched as he seemed to trail off, looking around, almost anywhere but her which caused her gears to turn and turn and turn.

Everything was silent for a few moments as the two battled on what to do next. Was he to just go past her and out to where he planned? Was she to call for the guards and get them to also jump down the rabbit hole? Or were the two both deemed to stand there, silent, motionless, separate, and yet together.

After the silence began to feel less than comfortable, Renée had finally sighed, fishing into the pockets of her skirt before pulling a key off her keychain. While holding it in her hand she began reciting an address, ignoring Axel's confused expression until he finally stopped her.

"What the hell are you doing?" he had asked with his eyebrows furrowed, even more so as she gestured for him to outstretch his hand and she placed the key into his palm firmly.

"My apartment. There's no record of it in my name so you shouldn't be tracked. There's cash in a drawer by the sink so do me a favor and buy yourself something that doesn't scream 'I just escaped from jail'." Axel had merely blinked at her comment, glancing at the key she just placed in his palm and slowly closing a fist around it. "Oh and make sure you bathe and shave. You'll feel like a whole new man." she added, taking the flashlight in her hand and holding it out towards him. Hesitantly, he had taken it, his eyes still on Renée as she assumed he didn't trust her.

She didn't blame him if he didn't.

"Why?" he had asked as he still looked her in the eye as if he was the one trying to assess the motives of a loon.

"Because I know you want to go back after Margo." she stated bluntly in response, watching as he remained unchanged in position except for a swallow in his throat. "The way you look at me—yes I know you've come to see me as me but you still see her, don't you?" he said nothing in response to this, though Renée just used such as an excuse to keep going. "Do me a favor... Just go to the apartment, I'll be there in a few hours, we can make a plan for where you can go and hide out, we'll just... We'll figure something out, okay?" there was still nothing but silence, but when he had opened his mouth to speak she found herself continuing.

"I know she's taken the one man you truly cared for Axel, and I know what loss does to a person, but please... I don't want to know that's all you can be..." Her voice had gone quiet in the end as the two were eye to eye; tension breaking the surrounding airwaves and yet their steady breaths were almost in sync.

The sound of footsteps miles of concrete and steel above were faint in Renée's ear, getting louder along with voices as it seemed a squadron of people had reached the hole. In that instant, Axel had taken the flashlight from her hand and broke out into a quiet run, causing her breath to hitch itself in her throat and her eyes to fall into a close.

Minutes had passed before she had done anything, and once she did, she screamed.

•

"Yeah, I'll be okay."

"Are you sure? Cause I read this article on Buzzfeed about underground cellars and if you were stuck down there there's a 27.4 percent chance you've acquired some sort of biologically engineered disease."

With her key halfway into her door, Renée had felt herself stop, turning to the Grayson girl beside her with a raised eyebrow. "I'm not sure if I should be surprised by the fact that you've recently read a Buzzfeed article or that their percentage was incredibly precise."

"But surprises are what makes the world so delightful," Robin—the only person in the world the Wayne girl could ever call a friend—spoke in a semi sarcastic tone, causing the two to laugh after she had pushed the door open to allow their entrance.

"Either way, I think if any strange disease manifested itself in my body, I'd know by now." Renée had retorted with a point of her finger, tossing her keychain onto her island and dropping her jacket on a chair. "Or maybe this is when you're starting to notice. A month is an optimum amount of time." Immediately, the first thing she did was pour herself a tall glass of wine as the other girl had responded, sighing to herself at the fact that the 'Axel Incident' one month ago ended in an obvious misplace of trust and ignorant actions.

When she had come home that day the tv was left on, and because of this Renée assumed Axel was somewhere in the apartment, casual as she entered and took a glance around before calling out his name. After no response she actually bothered to look around the rooms, finding the floorboard under which she kept all her foreign bills empty and the drawer of regular cash she told him of empty as well—well, all except for the handful of dimes.

After that there was radio silence; she had been brought into questioning though nothing major happened. Life returned to its old ways, and eventually, Renée did too.

"Guess we'll have to find a certified doctor—oh, wait..." the Wayne trailed off with a small smirk, taking a sip from her glass and earning an eye roll from the other girl who was currently going through her mail. They began yet another mindless conversation before Robin had stopped responding, peering up at the girl across from her with a postcard in hand.

"So who do you know in Honduras?" she questioned her lightly, sliding the card across the counter for the other girl's eyes to see. Looking at it, Renée had almost scoffed; the edges were completely torn and the stamps placed hurriedly in corners, though this wasn't what seemed to elicit such a response—no, it was the mere 'IOU' written in a memorable chicken-scratch handwriting on the back that caused her to almost chortle.

Putting the card in the drawer where she still kept the handful of dimes, Renée found herself taking another sip of her drink with the smallest of smiles.

"Just an old patient."


	2. please stay

p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"echoes seemed to bounce off of every wall as the only sound was that of the wayne's clicking heels, almost following her as she made her way down the darkened corridor of the arkham asylum. every step seemed to arouse people in their cells (because there was no poetic word to call them); the noise like a bell to signal a routine, though this was not lunch, nor a check in with the doctorate holding warden herself./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Apple Braille';" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"in fact, renee simply intended on making it to the break room before someone stole her dinner for the third time that week. perhaps she would even find the culprit in the act, giving them a weeks worth of shame she was bottling up. as luck would ave it however, she never even made it to the break room, let alone out of the excessively air conditioned halls her body grew used to, for the echo that made her steps follow herself carried another, rushed pair, and the two met in the middle./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""what is it? whats wrong?" she had asked that question ten too many times while working within the asylum, and at every answer, she almost considered herself worthy of a break./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Apple Braille';" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""it-t's your father," the small assistant who brought her plentiful bad news before seemed scared at the words coming from her mouth, and for a second, renee felt herself go pale. "he's on the phone, he says its your friend."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Apple Braille';" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"•/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Apple Braille';" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"for a second, everything was black; she didn't remember pushing past the girl to answer her fathers call, nor stumbling out of the building and practically running all the way to the hospital. she couldn't bring to mind how she made it into the emergency room without being put on a gurney with her bleeding feet, or her screams at the receptionists and nurses to find her the room of megumi yamashiro, so help her god. nothing seemed to be real as she stood at the window of a hospital room, watching as a bunch of people in blue scrubs began to connect her body to machines, cleaning off blood, and yelling terms she somehow couldn't understand in any coherent way./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"on the phone, bruce said he found her in an abandoned alley way when out on patrol. she was still in her masked appearance, but the wheezing he experienced every time she was nervous at a family dinner was so familiar, he knew who she was. he had stopped there, merely telling her he removed any vigilante-defining garb she had on and brought her into the hospital before going on a tirade about how she should not be promoting that behavior. "look what happened to damian," he had said as her blood ran cold. "do you want your friend to end up like that too?"/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"the monotone voice in which he spoke of his son was uncharacteristic, but what should she suspect; grief made you ugly./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Apple Braille';" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""i'm looking for my sister, megumi yamashiro? please, just a room number, admittance time, anything just—" at the sound of the voice, the brunette began to shake once more; her arms folding themselves over her chest as she forced her eyes away from the scarring sight and to the tiled ground at her feet. one by one, she counted the specs in the faux marble, not thinking of the distinct footsteps coming near her, or the worried breaths against the glass ahead as his hands clenched and unclenched into fists at his side./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Apple Braille';" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""were you the one that found her?" tadashi spoke up first, his eyes glued to the scene of doctors in front of them as they seemed to sigh in relief as her pulse began to steadily rise from nothing./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""not exactly…" renee mumbled, her eyes still casted downwards and midst the hundreds for the possible specs./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""how long have you been here?"/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Apple Braille';" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""i—," her brow furrowed at the question, finally looking up to find a clock in the room. of course, the only one present was in the room ahead, on the other side of the glass she wished to be a studio for a bad soap opera. "an hour maybe?" she responded, earning a nod from the male beside her as the two feel into a silence once more, watching as hands began to leave megumi's body just as doctors did./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Apple Braille';" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"•/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Apple Braille';" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"another hour gone and renee found herself displaced from the scene, dismissing herself to get something from the vending machine. upon discovering her lack of change however, the attempt proved useless, and so she stood there, hands in her pockets and eyes glued to her reflection in the glass./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Apple Braille';" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"the pain in her feet began to sting, though she didn't think too much about that. if she was going to be worried about anything involving her appearance, it'd be her hair, sticking out at every end and looking three time larger, accompanying her red shot eyes. for a minute, she wanted to move her hands to smooth down her hair and rub her eyes, but her mind seemed blank of any commands but to scream—and even that would not be sufficed./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Apple Braille';" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""it's out of order." she spoke out while hearing another pair of footsteps lurk behind her, hoping for it to be a stranger that would walk away./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""you, or the vending machine?" the not-so-stranger-stranger spoke out behind her, and for what felt like the first time that night, her eyes closed./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Apple Braille';" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"•/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Apple Braille';" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"there was no reason for him to be there; there was absolutely no reason for ross to have stepped outside of his bubble and shatter her own. the wayne immediately reminded him of such as she turned around and kneed him in the groin./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Apple Braille';" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""what the hell do you want, christian?" she asked through chattered teeth and his own piercing groans, picturing him as some blend of the coworker who kept stealing her food and whoever attacked meg in the other room. /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""ow, ow, ow, you don't have to shoot the messenger!"/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Apple Braille';" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""i asked you a question, now give me an answer or i will make sure you're the next one in one of these rooms." for a minute, she sounded like her father; uncharacteristically monotone. the male merely squealed again, so she readied her arm for a tougher blow./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Apple Braille';" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""okay, okay, okay! Just calm down and dial the last number, okay!" chris yelped at the sight of her clenched fist and the glowing gold bands on her wrist, stumbling through his pocket to find a burner phone that was snatched from him within seconds. as he calmed down however, her arm merely found its way to his throat as she pushed him against the painted over cement wall, holding him still and ignoring his fidgeting attitude as she did what he directed./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Apple Braille';" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"it was silent on the other line, but she didn't dare to say any type of hello before she received her own./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Apple Braille';" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""renee? is that you?" axels voice tore through the bad reception like a knife, making her gut churn and her grip on the pale boys neck tighten./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Apple Braille';" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""why are you calling?" she had every intention of her voice to sound sharp, annoyed even, but somehow it came out in an odd mix of anger and fear, loud enough to be heard but quiet enough to mean something./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Apple Braille';" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""technically you called me."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"she didn't answer./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""it's already on the news: "caped crusader brings In helpless girl". for a second i thought something happened to you."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"again, she didn't answer, watching as christians hands fumbled against her own while muttering a quiet "let me down, wayne!" under what breath he could allow./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Apple Braille';" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""i'm fine, thanks for asking." she finally spoke, hanging up the phone and tossing it to the ground before dropping the ross' body onto it, crushing both his tailbone and the device. "how did you have that number?" she asked as she sunk to his level, kneeling down in front of him as his hands flew to his neck to trace over the red she left./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""i told you not to shoot the messenger…" he muttered, meeting her death gaze and holding his hands up in a surrender. "okay, jesus, you don't have go ms. murderer on me. but who did you think was paying for coopers island hopping adventures, huh?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow as she rose back to her feet, ignoring his outstretched hand (practically slapping it away) as she did./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""you helped him get out…"/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""well you didn't seem to be doing anything about it." he retorted, reaching behind his bottom to pick up whatever was left of the burner she crushed. "he didn't deserve to rot in there. actually," he laughed. "if anyone deserved to be locked in a hole, it was that banner psycho…" his teeth now chattered, a mix of pain and anger as he finally rose on his own. watching his eyes go dark, however, renee knew the one who really deserved to be locked up without any hope of absolution was him./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""get out." she told him with dead eyes and a point to the halls where everyone could see. "get out now."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"•/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"when she returned to the window empty handed, tadashi was no longer standing there, instead he had sunk to the faux marble floor, with his head hung between his legs and his shoulders twitching as though he were in-between sobs. when the wayne glanced through the window to check the girls condition, she was no longer there; the bed that was once covered in the stains of her blood once again white, and any trace of machinery gone, as though she was never there./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""they took her into the icu…" his voice spoke out, a solid mix between shaking and incoherent. "she kept slipping in and out… kept bleeding… kept—," he cut himself off before his words became worse, inhaling as though he hadn't for the past few hours and finally raising his head to reveal bloodshot eyes midst a puffy, strained face. for a second, renee thought of reaching out to comfort him, something each of them needed, but instead she just stood there, finding no place for her to be but planted on top of specs three hundred seventy eight and four hundred thirty nine. "and instead of answering any questions they hit me with the damn bill…"/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""you know i can cover all of those for you."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""oh please, you've covered enough." he almost seemed to chuckle through his words as he hung his head down again, shaking it as though it was a bottle of orange juice. "you know, i thought that after you two became friends, she'd stop this whole one-woman-show thing. never in a million years would i picture you actually helping her get herself killed." his words pierced though the air like some sort of arrow, causing her eyes to look anywhere but him./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""i didn't know you knew—," "yeah, well, you really don't know a lot of things about me, do you?"/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"She didn't./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"at the lack of a response he had sighed, finally standing to his feet and not even swaying in the slightest. i'm going to the cafeteria. find me if they tell you something…" quietly agreeing, she found herself holding her breath until he was sure he was gone./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"when she had turned to look where he once was, it was almost as if he was never there./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"•/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"the whiteness of the hospital was ear splitting despite it being a sight for the eyes to behold. it had been almost four hours and there was nothing to be said as the stinging of her feet began to get the best of her. stealing a package of gauze from a nurses station, renee began to make her way out of the hospital and hopefully into a cab. it was dawning on her that she had no right to be there; tadashi's words weighing heavily as they were the truth everyone was trying to tell her for the past year. even her own mind agreed, chastising her for not allowing this to end sooner./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"she was seated in an empty waiting room while she applied the gauze around her feet, having called a cab company to pick her up just a few minutes ago when she heard a familiar voice./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""you can't confiscate these balloons, they cost me a dollar! security! oh—no, not you! security!" peeping her head out to where she could see the front door, low and behold her own niece (though when introducing one another, they preferred the term cousin) in the midst of a fight with a security guard as she held a stuffed bear and a balloon./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""ma'am, theres a tight restriction on do-dads in the hospital—."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""do-dads!? it's a balloon!"/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""is there a problem here sir?" renee finally got up to ask, earning a sigh of relief from robin herself and a confused stare from the security guard./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""i was just explaining to this woman that we do not allow—,"/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""listen, I'm sure you have tight rules and everything what with the last balloon someone brought in being an explosive, but we're just trying to cheer up a friend who was in a really bad accident and—," but her light and fluffy plead was abruptly interrupted by the other girl, causing her to drop her head into her hands with a sigh./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""if you do not let this balloon inside your hospital you will deal with the wrath of bruce wayne."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""excuse me?"/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""okay robin, thats enough, just leave the balloon outside on the bike rack and you can just give her the teddy bear."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""i'm sorry but we don't allow do-dads of any kind."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"•/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"an argument, a bribe, and a ginger ale later left the two girls sitting in the waiting room side by side, robin flipping through magazines as renee's eyes glued themselves to a clock, holding tightly to the teddy bear the grayson girl brought in./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""staring at that thing is not going to help her at all." the girl to her left pointed out while sniffing a perfume sample and quietly ripping it out of the magazine./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""smelling like a fruit wont do anything either…" she pointed out quietly, still eying the clock yet focusing on the room around them. as the midnight rush began, more and more people seemed to be admitted as more and more began to fill the chairs around them. the security guard, of course, dealing with more pity balloons as everyone pointed to the glasses-wearing girl with one wrapped around her wrist./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""actually, aromatics have strange healing powers, especially psychologically. i'm surprised you don't know this considering the whole doctor thing." robin retorted while handing her the sample, only causing her to raise a hand in a decline. The other brunette shrugged. "suit yourself." she muttered, lightly rubbing the paper against the base of her neck./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"they each proceeded to fall into a comfortable silence before renee had spoken./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""which one sent you?" the question held a mix of brute force and pure curiosity, but that didn't stop the other from shrugging as though it were casual, continuing to turn the pages and glance them over./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""i sent myself actually." what robin failed to say was that bruce gave her father quite the dad talk after calling renee, to which he used against herself when she finally got off the clock, prompting her to make her current appearance. this was just a bunch of madness the wayne by her side didn't need to know, on top of other crazed details the household was almost precariously keeping from her. the only reason they managed to do s, however, was because of her lack of edge. the reasoning behind it left them all out of whack./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"in a response, renee had sighed, sinking in her seat and tugging on her sleeves. "i'm gonna try and get some sleep…" she informed the other girl while closing her eyes. it was already hanging in the air what to do if she heard any other news, and so with a nod, she was off./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"•/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"some strange fogginess seemed to overtake her eyelids as she began to open them, but even so she was met with darkness, and a pang of worry stabbed the renee directly in the gut. immediately, her hand went to her eyes only to feel the soft plush of fabric, tearing it away as though it would have been impossible, though at the lack of resistance she realized it was just the hood to a sweater. she didn't have a sweater with her, nor a coat or jacket of any kind so she turned to ask robin if she planned on kidnapping her in public, but foggy eyes met a completely different shape./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""father said you'd be here." damian's voice rang out for the first time in months, though he acted as though he was there all that time. his posture held no influence as he sat up straight, fitting his crossed legs in the small lap of the black chair his turtleneck almost blended with. renee blinked, and blinked and blinked and blinked; any words available to her gone as she blinked once more./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""you're supposed to be dead."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""So was jason."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""todd?"/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""do we know any other?"/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""no, I suppose we don't." the small moment of bickering came to a close, whisking away the sense of familiarity from the pit of her stomach and replacing it with the black hole that had sat there. again, she looked at the clock, though this time it seemed stuck, with the second hand twitching as though time was unbearably stuck for that moment. looking at damian again, she didn't want that moment to end./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""i'm dreaming, aren't i?" she questioned as she looked him over from his head to—what she could see of—his toes, meeting his green eyes that looked so much like her own, holding onto the image before him. there were no scars, no imperfections, nothing that branded him of his trauma. in front of her he just looked like a boy, the same way he did the first time bruce knocked on her door and pushed him in. he was an annoyance then; a pest that needed to be gone. now all she wanted was him back./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""right you are, amazonian." he dripped with sarcasm, his upright posture failing him as he slowly leaned back into the chair beside her, noticing the string of the balloon robin had tied there and beginning to lightly tug on it. "you're the therapist here. care to diagnose why i'm here?" he seemed too engrossed by the string to actually care for his words, and in that moment, he looked like a child./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"renee gulped./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""with Meg in the hospital, i'm relating her fatality to yours, considering your… your death was something—is something none of us have yet to… recover from…" she watched as he wrapped the string around his finger; as he unraveled it and wrapped it times over with eyes so curious. "everything's stopped since… nothings really been happening without you… being there…"/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""when was the last time you actually spoke to yamashiro? really spoke?" he had questioned her, turning to meet her gaze but missing her eyes as she quickly glanced away. onw that he mentioned it, this was the first she heard of the other girl for the longest of times. a month, maybe two, and any attempt to converse was thrown away because she was ghastly afraid./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""you didn't deserve to die, damian…" her voice was quiet as everything around her began to blur with water collecting under her eyelids. wiping them away she finally looked at the ghost beside her./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"but when she turned and the tears began to clear, he was gone./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"•/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"Yet again, her open eyes were met with complete darkness, though this time she didn't fumble for the fabric as if her life counted on it, merely pushing the hood off and sitting up straight in her chair. Immediately, Renee's eyes bounced their way over the room until they met the clock, moving as though it was just oiled for swiftness. With a deep inhale she brought her thumb beneath her eye, wiping off what wasn't there other than the dried goods of sleep, and finally, she looked towards her right./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"For a second, she didn't know who she expected to see, whether that was Damian sitting there again expect this time in a world that moved, or Robin still flipping through magazines. For a second, her mouth curled downwards at the sight of no one sitting in the black padded chair, and the balloon nowhere to be found. Looking around the room the Wayne almost felt worried, standing up for a better view until she felt the teddy bear in her lap fall at her feet./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"As she knelt down to pick up the item however, her head collided with someone else's; their hand immediately going up towards their forehead and hers fine and dandy, about to apologize and make an exit before she noticed the glimmering badge in her head-butt challenge opponents pants./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""I hope you don't arrest me for assault." she joked, watching the cop rise only to realize it was a man. Next to the badge was a gun, ad there was no doubt in her mind he made frequent use of it./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""I wouldn't worry about you being behind bars, Ms. Wayne." he retorted cooly, though his concern over the growing read mark on his forehead erased that. "Michael Monroe, Gotham PD." the words beat her to the punch as she was about to make a scene of him knowing her name. Normally she would have made it, but it was an off day./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""You already know my name, theres no reason for formalities."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""Believe me ma'am, formalities are necessary in my line of work."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""Somehow I don't believe you." the two feel quiet as they finally met eye to eye (discounting the red mark that seemed to stare at her with growing distaste), tension growing within the room from their own stares. Did she know the cop? Not at all. But considering her families exploits, she made sure to steer clear from those types of associates. "What do you want?" she finally asked for the third time that night, her arms crossing over, yet clutching on the teddy bear as though she needed it for dear life./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""Your friend, Megumi Yamashiro? Her appearance into the hospital with the Batman was a bit out of the ordinary, don't you think?"/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""Is it really out of the ordinary for that masked lunatic to want to save people?" she questioned, glad she could use her childhood resentment for something and, needless to say, beginning to feel something other than the need to wake up for the past few months. At the thought, she nearly smiled, but it was enough to make Monroe suspicious./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""Whats so funny about that? The fact that yo contradicted himself?" he questioned with a step closer. She immediately moved back./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""Do you know what Complicated Bereavement Disorder is?" she watched as he went quiet. "People label it as one of those Web MD diagnosis when they suffer a loss and theres nothing more to them. Just this… Husk thats all hollowed out." Michael had no idea how this related to his questioning, and before he could ask, she picked up a pen from a nearby table, pulling up one of his hands and proceeding to write a number down on his wrist. "You want to talk to Megumi Yamashiro, you call this number and you'll be put into contact with her council."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"His eyes began to squint as rad the numbers, something similar that was often thrown at every issue they deemed to crack. "Those are Wayne lawyers." he pointed out. Renee shrugged./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""I'm a Wayne, aren't I?"/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"•/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"Seven hours after she arrived and Megumi had awoken, her eyes first meeting the stark white ceiling, and her ears the methodical sound of beeping. A few more blinks and she could see her own brother, slumped in a chair in the corner of the room, looking as though he was in the middle of being fast asleep and extremely awake. Meg coughed, and he jumped, looking around the room in a startled fashion before he noticed her eyelids drifting between being open and closed./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""Hey," he muttered affectionately, standing up to kneel beside her bed, taking one of her hands and almost laughing with glee. The doctors had told him it would take at least a day for her to wake up, but she was always the one to happily defy any standards. Slowly, the pale figure on the bed smiled, continuing to look around the room before her eyes landed on the clock./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""How long have I been here?" she asked; her mind jumping backwards and barely remember being hit over the head before her mind went black again. At the lack of memory, she frowned. "How did I get here?" she asked when her first question got no answer, but Tadashi didn't falter./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""All that matters is that you're safe now, okay?" he whispered as a response; his thumb slowly making circles in her hand as his entire body was filled with relief. Seven hours in one of those uncomfortable chairs and you start to worry./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"They were silent as she merely breathed; the sir beginning to settle in the room around them as the fell into some sort of equilibrium. This however broke as the one knelt beside the bed spoke./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""I'm sorry I didn't—I wasn't out there to help you." he whispered, looking up to see Meg shake her head./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""Believe it or not," she began in an equally quiet whisper as her eyes drifted to a close for another few seconds. "I have my own backup." at the word, the light from the open doorway was blocked for a second as a figure stepped into the room, and as the light settled back in, Renee had managed the smallest of waves./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""I have friends in high places." Megumi had joked with the smallest of smiles, and for a second, everyone did too./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"•/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"The sun was already coming up as Renee stepped out of her cab, silently thanking the Grayson girl that shared it with her before shutting the door and waving her off. On the ride from the hospital, the two called Alfred to schedule a much needed Wayne luncheon, except instead of it being at the excessively long table they could fit an army at, they strictly ordered comfort food in the cave. It wasn't much, but it was a start, and thats all they needed./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"For a second, she was glad the night was done and ended up swifter than expected. Of course, things could have gone better by not happening at all, but for the circumstances given it wasn't that horrendous—but even at the sight of the morning sun, the night wasn't done as she noticed her door was already unlocked, blinds drawn at every window./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"Quietly stepping in on her gauze covered feet, she shut the door and locked it behind her, grabbing the thinnest of knives she held in the space between the door and the wall, preparing herself for some burglarious intruder and pouncing as soon as a figure emerged from the shadows and neared her. But with the smallest of available light, she had come to the revelation it was not your average Gotham thief./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""I thought I found all of them!" Axel almost squealed at his eyes stared worryingly at the silver pressed against his throat, each of them aware that just the slightest more pressure and his head could easily be detached from his body. Glancing around the room, she noticed he was right; her coffee table filled with spare revolvers, blades, and even her Marshall's sculptures./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""The door. Its easy to reach when you come in or out." she muttered with an exhale, sticking the knife in the floorboards beside him and climbing off his body as he sighed in relief. He had outstretched a hand for her to help him up, but she pleasantly declined by turning away./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""What are you doing here, Axel?"/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""You hung up on me."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""Is that really what it takes for you to come crawling back?"/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"The room was silent./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""Thats all I have to do now?" she continued, but instead of yelling, and instead of screaming, her voice was shaking. For a second time, she began to cry./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""Ren—," "Don't!" pushing away his outstretched hand in a feeble attempt to stop the uncomfortable scene before him, she screamed, pushing back her hair and grabbing her head as the whole night faded away and she felt herself falling into some sort of abyss./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""You show up now when I hang up the god damned phone, but where were you when Damian died?!" she continued, pointing a finger directly at his chest and watching as his face fell into the lifeless shape she stared at for months. "We buried him!" she went on; her face feeling wet though she made no attempts to stop the tears. It was as though the wall that held the dam back for twenty years began to crumble, and there was no point of return. "We buried him next to Jasons empty casket in the damn family crypt!"/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;"Axel didn't say a word, attempting to bring a hand to her cheek to wipe away all that was clouding her eyes, and despite a seconds hesitance, she let him./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""My brother died, Axel… Why weren't you here…?" she whispered, watching him nod before slowly kissing the top of her forehead and bringing her into an embrace./p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;" /p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545;""I'm here now."/p  
p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #454545; min-height: 14px;" /p 


End file.
